ianmk2
Part of things
Posts: 116
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Oct 21, 2013 11:04:11 GMT
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Good Morning I’ve just joined up, although I’ve been lurking, particularly around the For Sale section for a while now, some absolute bargains in there I might add! I’ve just bought a 1988 Fiesta 1.4 Ghia as a restoration project, I say restoration, it is a complete car with MOT (I’m just waiting until the end of the month to insure and tax it) so its not quite as drastic as 'restoration' sounds, more of a tidy up project, I was inspired at a couple of shows I attended earlier in the year at Santa Pod, Classic Ford and Retro show, and I thought you know what, I quite fancy having a classic to tinker around with and started thinking about what affordable classics I could lay my hands on. I’ve always been a ‘Ford Man’ I’ve had Fords almost exclusively since I passed my test, with a brief stray over to Honda, and I grew up with Ford’s. My initial plan was a Mk2 Granada, I would dearly love a 2.8 Ghia in Champagne Gold like my dad had when I was a kid, but decided something that size was perhaps a bit ambitious as a first project, so I decided on a Mk2 Fiesta, I had one of these as my first car back in 1996 and whilst I wouldn’t say “I’ve always had a soft spot for them” (the ownership experience was somewhat fraught with heartbreak and mechanical failure) there is something about your first car that will always be special, the amazing feeling the day you pass your test and a whole new world opens up So, I did a bit of research on the price\availability of parts, the sort of prices the cars fetch, read a few forums and then set about finding a 1.4 Ghia in Nimbus Grey (is it Nimbus? I always think Mercury Grey like my Orion but I believe on the Fiesta’s it was Nimbus) regardless, I was very specific about wanting this particular model and colour, not because I had one as my 1st car, that was a red 1.1 pop plus, but because that’s what I wanted as my first car but couldn’t afford to insure a 1.4. Since no such limitations exist when you get older, this time round I was going to get what I wanted! So after several months of searching and concluding that 1.4 Ghia’s aren’t exactly thick on the ground, I found two, one was in Glasgow (which was a strike against it straight away) and had been a bit ‘chavved’ by a previous owner, not the owner that had it now, in fairness he was doing his best to unchav it, but it had been resprayed which, by his own admission, wasn’t a great job, had pepperpot alloys off an XR2, painted dashboard and door cards (why?) chrome trim all missing (which in my opinion is what makes a Ghia a Ghia and is incredibly difficult to get hold of now) Recaro seats, clear indicators etc etc – Some may have considered some of the mods a plus point, like the seats, but for me originality is king. In the absence of anything else on the horizon I was almost ready to buy it, figuring worst case scenario I’d have to buy another Ghia breaker to restore it to its original glory – Then this one came along, right colour, right spec, totally original, 2 owners from new, the last owner being an older lady that’s had it since 1990, 43k miles on the clock and MOT until June. Better than that it was, relative to Glasgow, just up the road, so I bought it. Yeah yeah, so shut up and post the pics…I only have the ones from the For Sale ad, because since picking it up on Saturday I haven’t had chance to take any of my own, but I’m no photographer either so you’re not missing out on anything there.. I paid £1000 for it, which was probably slightly over the odds, but I was coming to realise that they are getting a little bit rare now, and it could take me a long time to find another in the exact spec, colour, originality that I was after (and the guy had already come down from £1595) so I went for it. There are a few bits on it which need attention (but that’s the point of a project right?) mainly bodywork, hardly surprising really, these were going rusty when I had one 17 years ago, but I’m looking forward to having a go at welding, spraying, body repair and the excitement of having new shiny parts turning up in the post! I am fairly accomplished with a set of spanners, but bodywork will be new territory, again I’ve been doing some homework on techniques but we will see how that translates into practice! Mechanically the engine sounds sweet as a nut, I haven’t had chance to drive it, other than on and off of a car trailer because its SORN, but I will be getting it taxed and insured at the end of the month and then we will see whats what. So thanks for looking\reading, I’m really looking for somewhere to keep a diary of my experiences and progress with it (you know, incase one day I can be bothered to put together one of those awesome build books that people have at shows) but all comments welcome.
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Oct 21, 2013 11:16:58 GMT
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Making memories flood back I had a blue one in 97 as my first car. And you're right about the rust mine had structural rust back then :-)
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djefk
Part of things
Posts: 844
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Oct 21, 2013 11:54:07 GMT
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Until a few years ago, my standard course of action when short of both car and cash was to buy a mk2 Fiesta, although a 1.4 Ghia would have been like buying a Merc S class by comparison to the 1.1 Povvo Pluses I always bagged for a couple of hundred quid (with Mot!) on eBay back then!
I don't think you've paid over the odds - it's a very original, high spec car with low miles, it should clean up nicely by the looks of it, take it the rust you mention is around the rear arches and maybe around the headlamps, either under the bonnet on the slam panel or on the front panel? Also that's an odd looking font on the rear plate.
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Last Edit: Oct 21, 2013 11:55:43 GMT by djefk
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ianmk2
Part of things
Posts: 116
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Oct 21, 2013 12:16:43 GMT
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The rear arches and sills are surprisingly solid, the arches have been patched up in the past but by the looks of things it was more cosmetic tidying than catastrophic rust. The boot floor is also very solid, which seemed to be a weak spot going by others I looked at. Main areas are the front wings, a patch just below the trim line on the passenger side, bits of rust around the front arches and a patch near the headlight. The inner wings also have some corrosion, it looks as though one may have already had a repair panel welded in and the other side is starting to go. I don't believe in filler\bodging so where possible i'll be looking to cut out and replace with new metal, probably a new pair of wings and whilst i'm at it new inner wing sections. Front section and around the headlamps doesn't seem too bad. Luckily I have a friend with lots of room and a welder, air compressor, undercover workspace etc who is quite accomodating!
First job, because I can't see anything in the history to suggest its been done and the lady owner didn't seem to know for sure, is a cambelt\waterpump and general service and then run it for a bit to find the niggles, up until a month a go it was on the road in daily use so hopefully not too much. Its not a daily driver - I changed jobs about a year ago and got a company car, which I think has been the reason why i've missed having a car of my own to play around with, so I can be patient and take my time with it.
The number plates are the old pressed steel type, which my mate thinks is super retro cool, but I think they look a bit tatty so I will probably replace with some conventional type.
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Oct 21, 2013 12:40:20 GMT
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that is a nice car reminds me of my 1.4 Olympus I had, very rare car even when new was told that the took a 1000 white 1.4 gear's and added rs kit for the 88 olympic games
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Oct 21, 2013 13:32:07 GMT
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The inner wings always rot in the corner where they join the bulkhead as its a but of a water/ dirt trap
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nofrills
Posted a lot
my wings are made of Steeeeeeeel!!!
Posts: 1,243
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Oct 21, 2013 13:59:01 GMT
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do like these dude.... a mate of mine has a mk2 ghia whoch he has tinkered with and a mint mk1 ghia, i have a soft spot for them, everyone seemed to have them when i was at college in 95 i had a orion 1.6 gl lol always wanted a mk2
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ianmk2
Part of things
Posts: 116
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Oct 21, 2013 14:13:02 GMT
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I had an Orion after my first Fiesta, two infact, an Orion 1.4L which I bought off my Dad for an amazing price, and then a G reg 1.6i Ghia in Mercury Grey which I absolutely loved, right up until the gearbox went and the company that replaced it put a box in from a 1.6 carb instead of an injection box which totally ruined the performance. The injection boxes had a lower final drive ratio, I think to take account of them making the power higher up in the rev range, and the carb boxes really blunted the acceleration.
My early days of motoring were plagued with gearbox trouble, in my first Fiesta I changed the 4 speed for a 5 speed - back in the day when scrapyards were littered with old Ford's and they were easy to come by, from that day on it was nothing but trouble, gearbox after gearbox failing, usually with bearings becoming excessively noisy (like pneumatic drill noisy)but one of them just lost 5th and reverse gear one day. I have no idea why it was such a failing point, I wasn't a particularly harsh driver and I doubt it was down to the huge torque of the 1.1...I forget how many total, 5 including the original 4 speed I think. I could have the gearbox out in 45 mins by the end of it.
Good times!
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nofrills
Posted a lot
my wings are made of Steeeeeeeel!!!
Posts: 1,243
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Oct 21, 2013 14:26:07 GMT
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hahahaha, sound slike mine lol.... my 85 c reg 1.6gl orion has so many boxes... i remember before i passed my test had a xr3i box put init, then after a week of driving that box went, so i had another recon one, then i had a stage 3 burton head and a bigger carb with a kn filter, i was always haveing engine work done onit (before i got handy with the spanners) ina my first year of driving, i had 3 gearboxes, 3 engine builds, 3 down pipes kept cracking them at the welds, new engine mounts, new starter and alternator, don't get me wrong use to fly and i loved it... but when i was 18 i bought a mk2 gold gti which was a mistake and it went after 2 days and i went back to orions, i had a mk2 orion 1.6 ghia non injection, i had that years, and did a lot of work on the engine myself that time, do miss tinkering with the cvh, the second one i hardly had any problems with, the only thing i had go wrong was a clutch and the knocking cv joints, but it was excessivley low and i did 40k in it in 1 year when i dropped it.... only sold due to not using it when i bought a brand new car as a daily and my parents wanted it off there drive.... miss it though wish i had of kept it....
45 mins is quick dude.... i use to be able to change the sump gasket and rocker gasket and tappets in less than hour hahaha it was good times lol
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Oct 21, 2013 14:36:47 GMT
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great intro mate, you sound similar age, background and ethos to myself so will follow the thread with interest (no homo) the plaid blanket has to say! if it doesnt can i have it for my "project OAP"
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ianmk2
Part of things
Posts: 116
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Oct 21, 2013 14:46:16 GMT
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If only I was that lucky, the blanket had been removed upon arrival, but I wasn't ready to walk away from the deal because of it. There was a rather tasty set of leather driving gloves pictured on the drivers seat in the ad too, also missing! Damn OAP's!
She was actually quite emotional as I took it away, her son was selling it on her behalf because it was getting difficult for her to get parts off the shelf and get it fixed through 'normal channels' - she went inside because she didn't want to watch it go lol.
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Oct 21, 2013 18:21:52 GMT
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Your a man over my own heart, ive allways owned fords, I had a lovely mk2 fiesta, witch I never kept long enought due to a xr3i coming up cheap. So ill allways want another after selling my mk1 fiesta recently. Ill look forward to the updates, I'm sure there will be loads, cos these old fords keep you busy! I seam to be working on my mk3 escort every other day.
Charlie
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ianmk2
Part of things
Posts: 116
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Oct 26, 2013 21:38:19 GMT
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Well I went and fixed a few minor niggles today, trivial stuff like the backlight on the roof clock, front indicator not working (dodgy connection) heater blower switch...general stuff that would niggle me!
Dying to take it out for a test spin, but patiently waiting for the start of the month to tax it. Some on the road shakedown time to really see what's what is required, had a look through the history and its done an average if 1000 miles a year over the last 3 years!
Odd that I have a nearly new company car with all the mod cons, but what I really want is to drive a 25 year old fiesta! Something much more charming about simple honest mechanics over all this computer controlled trickery
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ianmk2
Part of things
Posts: 116
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Thought I'd post a quick update whilst watching it belt down with rain. Progress has been 'leisurely' to say the least, but I have had it road legal for some time now and put a few miles on it (about 700 infact, no idea how that happened since I haven't been further than 20 miles from home in it)
So, how is it? Well, truthfully, it's annoyingly reliable! Part of the draw of an old car was that never quite knowing if its going to start, every journey is an adventure sort of feeling, but it just works, no knocks, rattles, strange noises, it doesn't even smoke on startup which was unheard of for a CVH even back when they were current. It starts first turn of the key (if I remember to pull the choke out, been a while since I've had one of those) and goes very well, stopping, however, is a slightly different story. It's probably a combination of me being used to modern over-assisted brakes and the fiesta brakes being absolute rubbish. The current brakes are about had it though which doesn't help things, so I managed to get hold of some XR2 callipers and carriers from eBay for a very reasonable £63, which considering the rarity of the carriers now I thought was a bit of a bargain, I have some new vented discs and pads on the way for £30 all in (mate who works for Unipart) and 4 new winter tyres already fitted. I wasn't after winter tyres, Infact I didn't really want them at all, but the guy wanted £60 plus a tow bar I had laying around from an old long gone Mondeo for 4 that had done less than 1000 miles including rims, I couldn't really say no.
Despite having had a brand new exhaust a few months prior to me buying it, the front pipe (which wasn't replaced) perforated on the 2nd or 3rd trip out which made it sound awful (on the way back from the classic car show at the NEC as it happens) I haven't made my mind up what to do exhaust wise yet, the boy in me wants a shiny big loud one, but the responsible adult in me doesn't want it to sound like a boy-racer mobile, so some subtle compromise needs to be sought, in the meantime I picked up an exhaust bandage from the local hardware/sells everything shop for £3 and did an epic bodge job which I was super proud of, sounds good as new for the time being.
So what's next, I dunno the initial jobs I had planned, cambelt, waterpump, service etc have already been done, so I'm loathed to do them again just for fun, so it's a wait around for some decent weather I suppose, I want to get stuck into the bodywork and replace the front wings but this time of year just isn't right to even start jobs like that, plus I'm pretty flat out with work at the moment, working every weekend all over the country until the end of March, so not a lot of opportunity anyway. On the plus side its a good chance to earn some extra money for shiny parts in the spring. Looking forward to the 'events' season starting again, already booked for most of our regular ones, and hoping to try out a few new ones too.
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ianmk2
Part of things
Posts: 116
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Oh yeah and I tried the heat gun trick on the faded bumpers and plastic trim, wow, it's like magic, they came up a treat. Time will tell if it lasts but I was impressed!
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Welcome to the forum. I had my eye on this when it was on eBay as it is localish and looked in good condition. £1000 what I would expect to pay for it's spec and condition. Rare colour too! I have had a mk2 and now I have a mk1 with a 1.4 cvh fitted. My mate has a mk2 1.4 ghia too. I don't recommend the heat gun trick. It can dry out the bumpers and crack them, especially once the weather warms up. I use used engine oil on a rag and the bumpers come up a treat. Peanut butter works too. The oils are meant to help with the plastic or something.
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Ford Orion '86
Ford Fiesta '84
Ford Fiesta '83
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Mike
East Midlands
Posts: 3,387
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I don't recommend the heat gun trick. It can dry out the bumpers and crack them, especially once the weather warms up. I use used engine oil on a rag and the bumpers come up a treat. Peanut butter works too. The oils are meant to help with the plastic or something. Agreed on this point, I use boiled linseed oil on mine. Lasts a while too.
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ianmk2
Part of things
Posts: 116
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Thanks for the tip re the bumpers, I will think twice before administering a repeat application!
Any threads on your mk1? I did have a mk1 years ago, a 950 popular which was in astonishingly good condition, but the project (a friend and I were planning to put a 2.0 zetec in it) never really got off the ground due to loss of interest/time/motivation
I sold my share of it to him and he sold the car a year or so ago. A missed opportunity maybe, but onwards to new old things
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I don't have a thread on here. I am on xrtwo.com. I have not done much recently due to cold weather, lack of motivation and money. My mk1 is actually the van version they did. It is a 1.1 in 'L' trim. Well it was a 1.1. Currently in bits as it's a resto project. Needs new arches and various other little niggles such as a new battery and new tyres.
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Ford Orion '86
Ford Fiesta '84
Ford Fiesta '83
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ianmk2
Part of things
Posts: 116
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Mar 23, 2014 19:42:55 GMT
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Well I've kind of been deliberating over the last couple of months what to do, whether it was a stupid idea, a money pit, should I just get rid of it now and carry on with my life, because I've not really been around to touch it since buying it. However now I've finished the long term weekend working, have earned a decent amount of extra cash to fund it and the recent nice weather and coming lighter evenings have given me new found motivation to crack on (although this hasn't, as yet, translated into actually lifting a finger!)
So starting this week, I am going to start the acquisition of new parts, mainly body panels at this stage which I already know to be rusty, and then begin the restoration process. Bearing in mind that I have never picked up a welder in anger before, and my previous attempts at bodywork can mostly best be described as 'epic fails' this could be an interesting journey.
I've also just ordered some tickets to RR gathering, so that's my target completion date.
The main challenge is I can't really just do a full bare shell strip down, because it lives at my mums house and whilst she is quite accommodating of hoarding my curse word there, taking over her driveway for 6 months probably isn't going to fly and I don't have the space at mine. So it will be trying to work around it methodically whilst still keeping it mobile. Feelings of excitement and trepidation all at once!
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